Feb 25, 2020
District Administration – Melinda Ickes, Jim Pauly and Beth Magner
“We are hard pressed to open a newspaper or turn on the news and not hear the latest statistics on vaping. It is hard to imagine that more than 5 million young people are currently using electronic-cigarettes or vaping, and 1 million are using these products daily. The growth of e-cigarette use among Kentucky middle and high school students has also skyrocketed, for instance, with 14% of our eighth-graders and 27% of our high school seniors reporting current, past 30-day e-cigarette use.” (more)
Feb 25, 2020
The 74 Million – Jeb Bush
“Across the nation, state leaders are giving renewed attention to career and technical education. In fact, no fewer than 35 governors prioritized the topic in their state-of-the-state addresses last year. That’s a remarkable turnaround. And one that’s needed, because for more than a decade, the skills gap in the American economy has been growing in an alarming way — along with the sheer number of unfilled jobs requiring specific knowledge, skills and credentials.” (more)
Feb 24, 2020
The Conversation – Tanya Notley and Michael Dezuanni
“Although children’s news programs are important, safe and appealing, children are still exposed to other types of news. Our survey found 73% of children regularly consume the same news as their parents or guardians and 49% get news from social media sites, which increases with age. Our survey also found only one third of young people felt they could distinguish fake from real news.” (more)
Feb 24, 2020
The Conversation – Peter Macaulay
“There are growing fears about the rise of cyberbullying and its impact on children. Unlike traditional face-to-face bullying, a bully can conceal their identity online and target their victims constantly without the limits of location or time. A lack of reporting of cyberbullying and its low visibility when compared to face-to-face bullying make it difficult to gauge its true extent and impact. However, investigating rates of cyberbullying is extremely complex.” (more)
Feb 24, 2020
The 74 Million – Trenton Goble
“Changing a school’s perspective on assessments can transform them from a time-consuming necessity to a useful resource that provides pathways to a better future for students. In a school atmosphere where assessments are seen as road maps for successful learning, scary evaluations become a thing of the past — and teachers and students both win.” (more)
Feb 24, 2020
The 74 Million – Andrew Rotherham
“Last year’s NAEP scores continued a lackluster streak and set off a predictable bout of handwringing. This time, it was reading instruction — or, more precisely, our national pandemic of ineffective reading instruction — catching the flak. In response, the Council of Chief State School Officers held a summit on reading last month, and the media is starting to pay attention. It’s certainly better than nothing. Yet when a National Council on Teacher Quality study found that about half of the nation’s teacher preparation programs are teaching reading instruction based on science, it was received as great news. Indeed, it was progress — only about a third did in 2013. Still, some analysts, at least the cranky ones, wondered how half was in any way really good news. Half? It’s a disaster for millions of kids.” (more)
Feb 24, 2020
Forbes – Carol D’Amico
“It’s impossible to ignore the concerning trends emerging from recent research on postsecondary education. A new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that four out of 10 recent college graduates are underemployed, meaning they’re working in jobs that don’t require their degree. One out of eight is working in a job that pays $25,000 a year or less—far from what most consider a good salary for a college graduate. Similarly, a new book from Michael Horn and Bob Moesta shows that students who take on debt but don’t finish are often left worse off than if they’d never gone to college.” (more)
Feb 24, 2020
The Guardian – Alex Bellos
“It’s not often a leap year comes around. About once every four years, in fact. To celebrate this year’s bonus day, which falls on Saturday, here are three puzzles about dates and births.” (more)
Feb 23, 2020
CNN – Sandee LaMotte
“Both studies used a special type of MRI, called diffusion tensor imaging, to examine the white matter of 47 healthy children between the ages of three and five who had not yet started kindergarten. The brain’s gray matter contains the majority of the brain cells telling the body what to do. White matter is made up of fibers, typically distributed into bundles called tracts, which form connections between brain cells and the rest of the nervous system.” (more)
Feb 23, 2020
The Conversation – Gabrielle Wilcox
“Reading is an important predictor of future academic performance in all subjects and through all levels of school. The World Literacy Organization notes that weak reading skills predict lower income levels as an adult, increased health care costs, decreased productivity and increased involvement with the criminal justice system. Approximately 42 per cent of Canadians have literacy skills below those “typically required for high school completion,” or what literacy researchers call level three literacy. At this level, someone’s reading and comprehension skills are advanced enough to follow multi-step directions and interpret and evaluate texts.” (more)
